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Nova-Like Cataclysmic Variables in the Infrared

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Nova-Like Cataclysmic Variables in the Infrared The Astrophysical Journal, accepted 20 Mar 2014 Novalike Cataclysmic Variables in the Infrared D. W. Hoard1,2,3, Knox S. Long4, Steve B. Howell5, Stefanie Wachter2, Carolyn S. Brinkworth6,7, Christian Knigge8, J. E. Drew9, Paula Szkody10, S. Kafka11, Kunegunda Belle12, David R. Ciardi7, Cynthia S. Froning13, Gerard T. van Belle14, and M. L. Pretorius15 ABSTRACT Novalike cataclysmic variables have persistently high mass transfer rates and prominent steady state accretion disks. We present an analysis of infrared ob- servations of twelve novalikes obtained from the Two Micron All Sky Survey, the Spitzer Space Telescope, and the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer All Sky Survey. The presence of an infrared excess at λ & 3–5 µm over the expectation 1Eureka Scientific, Inc., Oakland, CA, USA 2Max Planck Institut f¨ur Astronomie, Heidelberg, Germany 3Visiting Scientist, MPIA; email: [email protected] 4Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD, USA 5NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, USA 6Spitzer Science Center, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA 7NASA Exoplanet Science Institute, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA 8Physics & Astronomy, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK arXiv:1403.6601v1 [astro-ph.SR] 26 Mar 2014 9Centre for Astrophysics Research, Science & Technology Research Institute, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, UK 10Department of Astronomy, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA 11Carnegie Institution of Washington, Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, Washington, DC, USA 12Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM, USA 13Center for Astrophysics and Space Astronomy, Department of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA 14Lowell Observatory, Flagstaff, AZ, USA 15Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK –2– of a theoretical steady state accretion disk is ubiquitous in our sample. The strength of the infrared excess is not correlated with orbital period, but shows a statistically significant correlation (but shallow trend) with system inclination that might be partially (but not completely) linked to the increasing view of the cooler outer accretion disk and disk rim at higher inclinations. We discuss the possible origin of the infrared excess in terms of emission from bremsstrahlung or circumbinary dust, with either mechanism facilitated by the mass outflows (e.g., disk wind/corona, accretion stream overflow, and so on) present in novalikes. Our comparison of the relative advantages and disadvantages of either mechanism for explaining the observations suggests that the situation is rather ambiguous, largely circumstantial, and in need of stricter observational constraints. Subject headings: accretion, accretion disks — circumstellar matter — infrared: stars — novae, cataclysmic variables — stars: individual (TT Ari, WX Ari, QU Car, V592 Cas, V442 Oph, V347 Pup, V3885 Sgr, VY Scl, RW Sex, RW Tri, UX UMa, IX Vel) 1. Introduction Cataclysmic variables (CVs) are interacting binary stars containing an accreting white dwarf (WD) primary and a mass-losing, late-type secondary star that fills its Roche lobe. CVs are a common pathway for binary star evolution that includes classical novae and possibly leads to the standard candles – Type Ia supernovae – that play a crucial role in modern cosmology (e.g., see Bours et al. 2013). In most CVs, accretion of matter from the secondary star onto the (non-magnetic) WD is mediated by a disk that extends close to the surface of the WD. CVs arguably represent the most observationally accessible disk- accreting astrophysical systems. They also include the closest examples of an accretion flow around a compact object and, hence, provide a basic laboratory for accretion disk physics that is relevant in fields ranging from star and planet formation to the central engines of quasars and active galactic nuclei. See Warner (2003) for a thorough review of CV types and observational characteristics. All CVs vary in mean brightness on a number of characteristic timescales and ampli- tudes, but the overall nature of the variability probably reflects the time-averaged mass transfer rate from the secondary star. Systems with mass transfer rates below a critical −9 −1 value (. 10 M⊙ yr for orbital periods . 8 hr; e.g., Patterson 1984) show quasiperiodic outbursts of 3–5 mag (in visible light) that last days to weeks and recur on timescales of weeks to months to (in extreme cases) years. These CVs are known as dwarf novae (DNe). –3– The outbursts of DNe are due to a thermal instability that converts the geometrically thin disk from a low temperature, mostly unionized state to a high temperature, ionized, opti- cally thick state (Cannizzo et al. 1988; Osaki 1996; Lasota 2001). During a DN outburst, −9 −1 the mass transfer rate in the inner disk rises to & 10 M⊙ yr (Hameury et al. 1998). −9 −1 In contrast, CVs with persistently high mass transfer rates (& 10 M⊙ yr ; Patterson 1984; Ballouz & Sion 2009) remain in the high temperature state most of the time and have prominent, optically thick accretion disks that do not display outbursts. These systems are known as novalikes (NLs). Because they are almost always in the high temperature state, NLs provide a valuable opportunity to study a prototypical steady state accretion disk. Disk-dominated CVs have been studied extensively in X-rays, the ultraviolet (UV), and visible wavelengths, where they exhibit different behavior depending on the sub-type and brightness state of the system. A variety of components contribute to the spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of CVs, including the WD onto which matter is being accreted, the accretion disk itself, the boundary layer between the WD and the disk (mainly in the UV and shorter wavelengths), the interaction region where matter from the secondary star is entrained into the disk, and the secondary star itself. When the accretion rate is high, emission from the far-UV to the infrared (IR) is dominated by the accretion disk (e.g., see Hoard et al. 2009 and Section 3.3). Hoard et al. (2009) used multi-wavelength archival and Spitzer Space Telescope Cycle-2 IR observations of the low-inclination (near face-on) NL V592 Cassiopeiae to construct an SED and system model from the UV to the IR. They showed that there is an excess of flux density in the IR that is not reproduced by the usual complement of CV components (WD, accretion disk, secondary star). They modeled this IR excess with a circumbinary dust disk. Through the gravitational torques that would be exerted on the central binary, circumbi- nary dust disks were proposed as an additional route for angular momentum loss driving the secular evolution of CVs (Spruit & Taam 2001; Taam & Spruit 2001; Dubus et al. 2002; Taam et al. 2003; Belle et al. 2004; Willems et al. 2005, 2007). However, Hoard et al. (2009) found that the implied mass of dust in V592 Cas (∼ 1021 g) was many orders of magnitude too small to be effective in that regard1. The importance of the contribution of a circumbi- 1Recent discoveries of cyclic eclipse timing variations interpreted as evidence of circumbinary planets around several CVs and pre-CVs (e.g., RR Caeli – Qian et al. 2012a; UZ Fornacis – Potter et al. 2011; DP Leonis – Qian et al. 2010a; Beuermann et al. 2011; NN Serpentis – Brinkworth et al. 2006; Parsons et al. 2014; Marsh et al. 2014; HW Virginis – Lee et al. 2009; NY Virginis – Qian et al. 2012b; QS Virginis – Parsons et al. 2010; Qian et al. 2010b) have possibly resurrected this scenario, since the added mass of a planet could increase the gravitational torques on the inner binary to levels sufficient to affect secular evolu- –4– nary dust disk to the SEDs of CVs (or even the presence of dust in CVs at all) is not yet firmly established nor universally accepted. Alternative explanations for an IR excess in CVs have been proposed (e.g., bremsstrahlung; see Harrison et al. 2013 and the discussion herein). We report here on our Spitzer observations of a sample of eleven additional NLs. These observations were obtained in order to study the general properties of CVs in the mid-IR; NLs were selected as targets to ensure the presence of bright accretion disks and avoid the complications imposed by DN outbursts or strong magnetic fields in other types of CV. At the same time, these NLs offer an opportunity to explore the potential observational consequences of the mass outflows from the inner binary expected in high mass transfer rate systems (e.g., disk corona/wind, stream overflow, and so on). Because these mechanisms for relocating matter out of the WD Roche lobe and into circumbinary space operate strongly in NLs, these CVs are prime candidates for probing for the presence of dust. 2. Targets and Observations Our primary targets are the nine brightest (in visible/near-IR light) NLs, which were observed in our Spitzer Cycle-5 program (50068). From brightest to faintest in Ks-band, they are: IX Velorum, V3885 Sagittarii, RW Sextantis, QU Carinae, TT Arietis, RW Trianguli, UX Ursae Majoris, V347 Puppis, and VY Sculptoris. In addition, we utilized a serendipitous observation of UX UMa from Spitzer program 40204. The bulk of our data for IX Vel was actually obtained as part of our Cycle-2 program (20221), with only a repeat spectroscopic measurement during Cycle-5. We also include two additional NLs from our Cycle-2 program, WX Arietis and V442 Ophiuchi. Although fainter than the Cycle-5 program targets, these objects are intermediate inclination members of the SW Sextantis sub-type of CV (as is TT Ari, and probably also RW Tri, UX UMa, and V347 Pup). The SW Sex stars are NLs that share a number of unusual observational characteristics (Honeycutt et al. 1986; Szkody & Piche 1990; Thorstensen et al. 1991) that are likely linked to the presence of a self-occulting, flared accretion disk with a bright spot at the impact site of the matter stream from the secondary star with the disk edge (Hoard et al.
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